1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to coin sorting devices and, more particularly, to coin sorters of the type which use a resilient rotating disc and a stationary sorting head for sorting coins of mixed denominations. The coin sorter of this invention is particularly useful with coin sets which included at least one coin denomination made of a soft metal such as aluminum, and/or in which the variation in thickness among the various coin denominations is very small.
2. Background Information
Although disc-type coin sorters with resilient disc have been used for a number of years, problems are still encountered in applying this technology to certain coin sets. For example, if the coin set includes one or more coin denominations made of a soft metal such as aluminum, the soft-metal coins tend to gall on the portions of the sorting head where the coins are pressed firmly into the surface of the resilient disc. The resulting metal deposited on the sorting head from such galling can result in the mis-sorting of coins.